After The Fall
by Piett600
Summary: The journey home isn't all that easy when you don't know where "home" truly is. Renton, Eureka, and the journey back to Bellforest.
1. Chapter 1

_Prologue_

They fell.

The rushing wind seemed distant, insubstantial. Gravity's pull, once an overwhelming constant, was pushed aside in the rush of warmth that flooded them both, the relentless boiling need to feel just that tiny bit closer, so overpowering that for a brief moment the young man felt consumed.

The human boy Renton Thurston and the Coralian girl known only as Eureka fell to earth together. For a brief moment he had lost her but here she was, in his arms, her lips pressed to his with such certainty that he knew this was no dream, no mere fantasy concocted by a wounded and grieving heart. There was nothing in that instant - no Gekko state, no mad Colonel Dewey, no Holland or sister or Adrock or Nirvash or -

Just Eureka. The press of her lips against his, the almost terrifying warmth of her body in his hands.

They fell. But, Renton Thurston knew, they would be all right.

---

_After the Fall_

_A Eureka SeveN fanfiction_

---

"...-on!"

Something pressed into his side softly, and Renton let out a small grunt as he tried to ignore it and return to blissful unconsciousness.

"....nton!"

There it was again, his sluggish mind noted.

"Renton!"

With a gasp he bolted upright, chest heaving and eyes wild as he tried to make sense of his surroundings. He'd been falling, he remembered...but it had been warm....

_Eureka! _

A hand settled on his shoulder, gentle but firm, and as the fog in his mind cleared the world was made right again: there was her face, eyes wide with concern and face awash with anxiety.

"Renton! You're awake!" She moved her head to his shoulder, wrapping her arms around him and pulling herself close. "You were asleep for so long...I was worried." He closed his eyes and allowed himself to savour the feeling of closeness, of the comfort of her embrace. _Wait a sec! Weren't we just...?_

He pulled back reluctantly and, for the first time, took in his surroundings. They were at rest in a meadow, surrounded by gently rolling hills covered in verdant green grass. The grass seemed to continue forever in every direction, disturbed only by the occasional soft breath of wind. _I don't understand - where are we?_

Eureka seemed to sense his confusion, rising to her feet as she surveyed their surroundings. "I don't know what this place is either, Renton. I remember we were falling, together, and..."

He could see a faint blush tinge her cheeks, and for some reason his heart skipped a beat. The memory of the softness of her mouth was so very clear...._No! _He shook his head vigorously, earning an odd look from his companion. _Gotta forget about that for a second..._

Rising slowly to his feet, he regretfully pushed the memories away for the moment and tried to focus on the immediate problem: he had no idea where they were. There were no landmarks he could discern, just the endless rolling grassland and the sun shining down from on high. A few wispy white clouds meandered lazily across the sky. It was beautiful and tranquil, but at the same time Renton could feel fear begin to settle in the pit of his stomach. They were alone, with no supplies, no shelter and no guarantee they would be found anytime soon. The conditions were fine right now, but what if they turned sour? Eureka was hardly dressed for bad weather, the white dress she was wearing-

....the thin white dress she was wearing, which clung to her slim body and seemed to hug her slim body-

_No no no!_ He shook his head again, so hard this time he swore he felt his eyeballs rattle. _She's going to think you're a pervert if you ogle her! This is hardly the time for that anyway! Idiot!_

His mental torment was interrupted by a soft poke to his forehead. She was looking at him with those gentle, curious eyes again.

"Renton, I think we should get moving. Maybe we'll reach a town or settlement?" She turned a quick circle with her arm outstretched before finally settling on a direction and fixing her mouth with a small, determined smile. "That way! Mmm, we'll definitely find something that way." She grabbed his hand and started in her chosen direction, dragging him a few reluctant steps.

"Ne, Eureka, are you sure? I mean, we don't have any food or water or anything....maybe we should just stay here and see if someone picks us up?" His eyes lit up as he pulled back from her and he slammed his fist against his palm. "The Gekko-go! Holland and the others will come for us, right?"

She paused for a moment and a brief frown flickered across her face. "I just feel like we should be going that way. I don't feel quite right just...sitting here, Renton. I feel like something is calling me." Her eyes grew distant and she turned away from him. "And....I'm sick of waiting for people to find me. I- I want to be the one who finds them, this time! Holland and the children and Talho-san and everyone and you, you're always the ones finding me. I don't want to be the one who just sits and waits this time, Renton.

"And if I'm with you I feel like we can do it". She turned that smile on him, the one that made him feel lightheaded and heavy at the same time. He didn't have words to answer it, so he simply smiled back at her and retook her hand, and together they started walking.

*

"GIDGET! Have you found them yet?"

Gekko-state's willowy radar operator gritted her teeth and looked up from her computer screen, shooting their leader a venomous look. "No, I haven't found them! Not now, not the last time you asked, not the fourteen- no, FIFTEEN times you've asked in the last two hours!"

Holland Novak grunted and resumed pacing the bridge of the Gekko-Go. Five hours. Three hundred minutes since the runt had torn a hole in his ship and flown off to save Eureka, piloting a Nirvash that he could barely recognise and with abilities he couldn't make any sense of. And then these pyrotechnics, multicoloured trapar seeming to fill the sky and sweep not only across the horizon but up into the heavens! What the hell had the brat done?

A hand came to rest on his shoulder and he turned to face the owner, trying to let some of the stress drain from his body.

"Holland, you need to step back from this. Ken-goh was right - he's left the nest, we can't worry ourselves stupid about him. They'll turn up. We have bigger things to worry about right now." Talho grimaced. "Like the giant hole that brat tore in this ship! Oooh, he owes me big for that one!"

(He took an involuntary step back. _Damn, that was a quick mood change! Is this one of these pregnant woman hormone things?_)

A laugh from Ken-goh was enough to interrupt her building ire, and Holland took the opportunity to get a few more steps away from his irate lover. Talho glared daggers at her moustachioed crewmate and her tone grew frosty. "I'm glad you're happy at the thought of having to replace all the reflective film!"

Ken-goh turned and grinned at her before pointing out the forward viewport. "I think there are bigger things we're going to have to explain, Talho. Our boy seems to have developed a bit of flair." Dusk was rapidly giving away to night's darkness, and their weapons officer's hand was pointing at the moon rising to assume its place in the evening sky.

_What the? _Holland ignored the collective gasp from the bridge crew as they took in the sight of earth's orbital companion, which now sported a fairly emphatic statement.

Eureka + Renton. Surrounded by a giant heart.

The silence was broken by Stoner's admiring tones. "Wow. That's possibly the most awesome piece of graffiti ever created! Go Renton!"

Holland grimaced. Flown the nest without so much as a thank-you, ripped a hole in his ship and now responsible for what was probably the biggest act of vandalism in the collective history of humanity. Oh, he was just going to _love _explaining this to that old fart back in Bellforest. Not to mention the rest of the earth's population, for that matter! From the cover of Ray=out to the surface of the moon - Renton was certainly going to be in the public conciousness now, maybe even moreso than Adrock.

Bigger than the frame, indeed.

He sighed and closed his eyes. Talho was probably right - Renton and Eureka would be okay for the immediate future, wherever they were. He had a damaged aircraft to repair and a lot of explaining to do, but that was the least of their problems. _Our world has changed_. His brother - his twisted, brilliant, visionary and megalomaniacal brother - was dead, and the genocidal campaign which had held together the Federation's military was gone. There were going to be a lot of uncertain, afraid soldiers around.

_And a soldier without a chain of command, orders and structure is just a thug. I hope Juergens might be able to talk some sense into the bulk of them._

Worse still, there were reports filtering in of heavy damage sustained by cities and settlements all over the planet. The Coralians had been able, somehow, to manipulate the trapar flow and direct debris down out of the upper atmosphere and send it crashing into heavily populated areas, and the loss of life had been heavy. Revenge for the destruction of their command cluster, perhaps. People would be angry and confused and he doubted that seeking co-existence with the Scab Coral would be at the top of the average joe's priority list. Probably the opposite, in fact.

And who the hell knew how many of them were running around, anyway? He'd had TWO on his own ship and one had completely escaped his notice.

He glanced back at the declaration of love hanging in the night sky. _Perhaps you two lovebirds SHOULD lie low for a while._

Holland tore himself from his thoughts and snapped back to the present. Time to take action. He turned to Moondoggie, who was busy being berated by his girlfriend about what he was going to do to top THAT declaration of love.

"Oi oi, let's put this aside and get this ship down where we can fix her. I don't want some crazed Federation ship catching us while we're banged up. Doggie, let's head to Trezor." The pilot nodded his blonde mop in relief and focused back on his console. "Matthieu, get in touch with Woz and make sure the hanger area is relatively secure. Well, as secure as you can make it." He grabbed Gidget by the shoulders and marched her back to her console.

"Keep looking for them. Anything you find at all, I want to know."

He tried not to show the concern that had slowly built up about Eureka's safety, or the little jealous voice that still swore at Renton for stealing the girl away. He was an adult, after all, and these were times required adult actions and feelings.

_You're not going to get off easy when I find you though, brat. So you better stay safe and in one piece until I can find you._

*

A/N: and so we begin. I've only recently finished watching Eureka SeveN and it was easily one of the most enjoyable experiences I've had with an anime. The epilogue, however, left me wanting a bit more closure - so this story will be my attempt at addressing Renton and Eureka's journey back to Bellforest.

Just a few notes - firstly, I try and stay away from the use of japanese words or terms unless the english equivalent wouldn't work or convey what it needed to - the honourifics being an obvious one. Secondly, the 'M' rating is mostly there due to Renton's mind and Holland's mouth.

Lastly, reviews and constructive criticism/ideas are all welcome!


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: This fanfiction is not written for profit and all characters/settings remain the property of their creators._

*

The sun and sky and seemingly endless fields lay out before them in every direction, and Renton felt that the initial beauty and tranquility of their surroundings had started to take on a surreal air. Nothing but green and blue in every possible direction, no sign of civilisation. Had they been walking for hours - or was it just minutes? It felt endless and brief all in one moment, on which Renton blamed the sameness of their environment. He had considered a few possibilities before settling on "this is just plain weird", and leaving it at that. For her part, Eureka had not spoken since they had started their trek to who-knew-where and she continued at a steady walk, her wings gently quivering in time with her gait.

_Her wings...._ She was there in front of him, her wings and her hair and smile. Had it been less than a day since he'd sat hunched over in despair in the Gekko-Go, believing that he'd lost her forever? That he'd failed at the one moment when it mattered most? He'd watched with horror as that -- that BASTARD -- Dewey's collar had activated, causing her to writhe in agony and stumble down Nirvash away from him. In that moment she must have known, must have realised what needed to happen - it was writ there in her eyes, that terrible sadness, when she'd turned to him and murmured a soft goodbye.

Then her people reclaimed her.

Now here she was in front of him again, and his heart was flooded with emotion. She had called to him across time and space and he had answered her call with his desperation, with his realisation that he was nothing without her beside him. Armed with that understanding he had taken Nirvash on one final journey: to either free her or give up his humanity just to remain by her side. Nirvash - who, he realised, was their alpha and omega. She was the reason they met, the way they defined their relationship in those early days, their companion as they grew closer- and finally at the end their salvation, it dawned on him - she'd reunited them and sent them home with the command to forge their destiny and show all life how to move ahead. He'd owe the Nirvash a debt forever, and he meant to pay heed to her request.

He must have stopped walking at some point during his reverie, as he noticed that Eureka had turned around and was gazing back at him almost fondly. Renton gave her a sheepish smile in return and then flopped onto his back unceremoniously, staring up at the sky and taking a deep breath. The scent of sweet grass coursed up through his senses, overwhelming him for a moment. It brought back an old memory: a small house surrounded by pile bunkers and a man gazing at his wife with the same expression that Eureka wore.

"Renton, are you alright?" She'd walked back to where he lay prone and leaned down over him, blocking out the sky.

For some reason the concern in her voice made him grin inwardly. "Mmmm, I'm fine. I just thought I'd take a break. We haven't had much chance to relax lately, huh?" He gave her what he hoped was a roguish grin and adopted a tone of false bravado. "Saving the world makes even me a bit tired!" Not really true, to be sure - the heat was hardly energy sapping and the grass made the walk easy - but she gave him a gentle smile, anyway, and he let his eyes close and willed the remaining tension away.

It didn't work.

This couldn't last. They were out in the middle of nowhere with no food, no shelter and no guarantee of retrieval, yet for some reason that didn't worry him. What had started to gnaw at him was what came next. The _Gekko-Go_ would find them sooner or later, he was sure, but where to after that? Dewey was dead. The limit of life had been avoided, and he knew with absolute certainty that the Coralians were no longer something to fear. Eureka and Nirvash had been his chief reasons for staying, but Nirvash was gone now. He was an LFO pilot without an LFO (having graduated from being a mechanic with no tools and no workshop) and, with Dewey gone and the Federation in tatters, no identifiable enemy to darken the skies around him. As for Eureka...

Had she had this same conversation with herself? Had the same gnawing worry taken residence in her mind as well? In many ways the Nirvash had been even more integral to her existence than it had been for him: away from the military, after her early life as a tool and a scientific curiousity, Gekko state and Nirvash had defined her existence. If she had started her existence as a blank slate then by now it must be a messy, overflowing and amazing canvas: the colors those around her who helped her grow, the brushstrokes their words and deeds. Could they really return there, though?

Did he really want to? He didn't want to deal with Gekko State yet. Right now he just wanted to hold on to these moments and emotions: the feeling of euphoria at finding her, the strange and heady mix of feelings that had washed over him when he'd kissed her - and when she'd kissed him back with equal desire and tenderness....

A hand settled on his forehead and his eyes snapped open. She was staring at him with concern evident on her features.

"Renton...are you alright? Your face went all red and you were touching your mouth....are you hurt?" Her gaze was so serious that he would've laughed, had he not been so mortified and embarassed. "You don't have a fever, let me check your cheeks," she said, moving her hand down the side of his face. That simple act sent sparks arcing across his skin where her fingers trailed down.

"No, no, I'm fine, don't worry!" The assurances tumbled out of his mouth even as he scooted back away from her, and he could feel the embarassment burning in his cheeks. Even after everything that had happened, he wasn't sure he was ready to admit to her that he was having THOSE sorts of thoughts. She gave him a quizzical look before turning her gaze back toward the horizon. She must have seen something, too, as surprise washed over her features. "Renton, look!"

He followed her eyes and peered into the distance. Fog. It was there, far off, but there was definitely a patch of hazy fog up ahead. After having endured a featureless horizon for so long, it seemed stark and out of place. The haze brought those memories back unbidden: fog, a forest, a deserted and destroyed village. Renton wondered why he hadn't noticed it before, but now that he'd seen it the feeling that they ought to move in that direction became forceful.

"I think we should go there." She spoke softly but firmly. Renton turned to look at her, and for a moment he swore he could feel her urge to move there as if it were a physical, tangible thing rolling off her. _Maybe I'm going kinda crazy....but she's right. We need to go there. I don't think we've got anything to lose, anyway._

He murmured his agreement as he pulled himself upright, brushing the grass off the back of his shorts. He plastered a cheeky grin on his face.

"Let's go!"

*

He tumbled to the earth, not having expected the punch, and landed unceremoniously on one of the sheets of corrugated iron that seemed to litter the ground. Holland brought a hand to his jaw and pressed, wincing as pain shot through his face. He spat out a mouthful of blood even as he stood up shakily, facing his attacker.

Axel Thurston's face was contorted in rage and pain, unshed tears threatening to spill down his wrinkled cheeks. He was breathing heavily, his hand still outstretched from where he'd delivered a vicious right hook to Holland's face. If his hand hurt he showed no sign of it, as if the emotional pain he was in overwhelmed everything else.

"I let him go with you, boy. I let him go and I trusted you! He was all I had left, and you lost him?"

Holland couldn't think of any response. It was true: just like he'd been unable to find Dianne all those years ago, now another Thurston was missing.

What had he been thinking when he'd come back to Bellforest, anyway? That he could just tell the old man that his grandson was gone and walk away? There was always going to be a price to pay.

Axel had raged at him in his disbelief in anguish, words spilling from his mouth that held the sort of truth born from grief: Holland Novak was just a boy wearing a man's body, spending his life running away from responsibility. At the end he couldn't even keep an old man's grandson safe, apparently.

They'd spent the better part of the last eight weeks searching without success for any trace of Eureka and Renton. He figured they must have covered hundreds of square kilometres, but could find no trace of them - or, more worryingly, the Nirvash. They'd been forced to do it alone, the upheaval of the last few months leaving them with nobody to go to for assistance. There was too much going on: too much damage to the tower states, too much confusion in the power vacuum left in the wake of Dewey's death, too much change to the world's landscape.

All in all, Holland figured, the situation was far better than he had feared in those first days. The rulers of the surviving tower states had predictably bickered amongst themselves, and for a while it had seemed there was a distinct possibility that warfare would result. The "second summer of love" seemed poised to become an autumn of conflict and strife.

What they had not counted on, however, was the practicality of Captain Juergens. After coralling the remnants of Dewey's malevolent little urchins he, along with Dominic and Anemone, had set about trying to bring the remains of the Federation military under control. Holland didn't know how the wily old soldier had done it, but somehow he'd managed to convince the bulk of the Federation forces to follow his lead. Holland figured that being able to demonstrate that his brother was a genocidal psychopath had convinced the surviving soldiers that sensible leadership was the best option.

With most of the planet's remaining military forces behind him, Juergens had gone to the capitol and made it quite clear to the bickering princelings where the real balance of power lay. _Fight amongst yourselves if you want_, he'd told them, _but you're going to be doing it with your own fists because just about everyone else with a gun, ship or LFO does what I suggest_. After that they had grudgingly accepted his suggestion that an interim governing council be created, with a view to forming a single democratic state within a year.

The tower rulers had gotten their revenge - of sorts - by accepting Juergen's proposal and then insisting that he be made head of the council. The most recent transmission Holland had received from Dominic included the comment that Juergens probably had a dent in his forehead by now, given that he spent his days banging his head against a wall while the princelings bickered over what form the new world would take. Lieutenant Sorel had also passed on a request that Holland and Gekko State take part in this process. After the scope of the global calamity became apparent Gekko State was one of the few bodies on the planet that had any remaining credibility, let alone a track record of good judgement.

Holland had begged off. They couldn't stop searching for Eureka and Renton, he claimed.

People wouldn't accept a group of ragtag ex-rebels as leaders, he pleaded.

Talho needed her rest, he prevaricated.

Finally he'd told them that he had "other concerns" that needed addressing, first.

Lying on the ground, jaw stinging, those concerns peered out from behind Talho's legs, where they had been watching quietly.

"Our Papa isn't lost, he's coming back!"

Linck's declaration was made with the kind of heartfelt indignation only a child could muster, but it broke the spell Axel was under. The old man turned to get a good look at the boy, surprise replacing anger on his face. Linck shrank under his gaze and scuttled behind the welcome safety of Maeter's back. His relief was short lived, however, as Talho gently pushed the children forward.

"What did you just call Renton, young man?"

Too scared to reply, he poked Maeter in the shoulder, who in turn poked Maurice. The older boy took a deep breath and met the piercing gaze.

"He's our papa. He's not lost. He went to find our mama." Holland could see the conviction on the child's face. Maurice had always been the one most weary of Renton, but after they'd returned to the Gekko-Go he'd become the brat's biggest cheerleader. His hands balled into fists. "He'll find our Mama and bring her back. He's the only one that could!".

Holland felt this was as good a time as any to explain. "Uh, it's not like that Axel, they're not really his children, he and Eureka, they haven't been - uh - there wasn't time...."

Renton's grandfather was giving him a withering lookthe type that said: _I'm sorry I hit you. I didn't realise you were more stupid than most farm animals._

Maeter had used the interruption as a chance to wander up to Axel, cautiously, eyeing him as if he were some sort of oddity. "Are you reaaaaaaaaally Renton's grandpa?" She received a nod in response.

"Really? 'Cause Holland said you were, but he lies a lot." Another nod.

Maeter looked impressed. "Did Papa live here?" She pointed a small finger toward the Axel's machine shop, which was still in the process of being rebuilt. Again, a nod. Holland figured the old man was avoiding saying anything while he tried to process these three new developments.

"Does that make you our great-grandpa?" Linck's face filled with glee at the realisation.

Axel paused for a moment, lifting the hem of his shirt up to give his glasses a quick polish. Holland realised he probably should have mentioned the reason for this visit earlier, before the kids had gotten involved.

Credit to the old geezer where it was due, though. He'd fixed a welcoming smile on his face and bent down to put his arm on Linck's shoulder.

"Yeah, young man, I'm your great grandpa. And I think your Papa and Mama would have liked you to stay here a little while, and see where your Papa grew up. It's no good for you to be stuck on a ship all day, you need some fresh air and grass to play in."

There was enough of an edge to Axel's voice that Holland knew those words were meant for him. He let out a breath that he didn't realise he'd been holding, and relief washed over him as his wife gently linked her arm with his and gave him a teasing look.

"Come on, punching bag. Let's let them get acquainted while we get their stuff packed up."

*

A/N: A HUGE thanks to everyone who reviewed the first chapter, and I have taken any advice offered on board. My apologies for such a late update, my time available to write is regrettably limited.


	3. Chapter 3

Eureka SeveN is the property of BONES. No material reproduced here for profit.

----

"WILLIAM-SAAAAAN!"

His voice vanished into the oppressively thick fog, answered only by an equally oppressive and lonely silence. Renton could see barely more than ten metres ahead, and above him the tops of both the trees and the pile bunkers vanished into a white blanket. The air was damp and thick, but Renton felt strangely warm and comfortable.

He cupped his hands and called out for William again. Eureka was quiet beside him, lost in thought.

A few hours earlier, as they had moved across the rolling grassland a feeling of deja vu had slowly overtaken him, as if he'd done this all before. The feeling had only become stronger as the fog had enveloped them, and when they'd finally cleared through it to a lone house on the edge of a field of tall grass, he knew he was right: he HAD been here before! The field of long, unruly grass ringed by trees and pile bunkers. A solitary windmill over to one side, uttering the odd metallic creak when the wind picked up. A small wooden house nestled at one edge, looking out over the field.

It had been a way point on his journey. When he'd run away from Gekko State, alienated and unhappy with the course his life was taking, he had ended up here. He had recognised the house at once, and raced toward it.

He'd had tiptoed through the long grass gingerly though, wincing every time his foot landed on any object that felt at all vegetab-ly. William had a strange bouncing path through the field, but Renton for the life of him couldn't begin to remember it. He spent a good ten minutes trying to thread his way through the chest-high grass without treading on any of William's precious vegetables before tripping and falling over a carrot.

_Or maybe it was a potato...._He'd looked up to see Eureka smiling for the first time in hours, trying her best to stifle a slight giggle behind her hand. He'd scratched the back of his head sheepishly and tried to explain earnestly about the vegetables.

She'd forced the grin off her face and tried to look solemn, wagging a finger in front of her like a scolding parent. "Mmmm," she'd said, "vegetables are very important for your diet."

_Did she....did she just make a joke?_ He'd stared at her for a second and then laughed. "Eureka, you made a joke!"

She'd blushed at that. "Was that ok? I mean, you laughed...but...." she'd looked away from him, looking heart-achingly uncertain. "Gidget said I should try and be less serious sometimes...."

_Ah, crap, she's going to think I was teasing her! _He'd leapt to his feet and given her what he hoped was a reassuring grin, stepping across to take her hand. "No, no, that's fine! I thought you were funny." He blinked and started to stammer. "I mean, not that YOU were funny! The joke was funny! I was laughing at that!"

He'd moved toward her without realising it and their faces were close, now. Too close. The uncertainty in her face was gone now, replaced by an expression that he couldn't name but really, really liked the look of. Her eyes were hooded and her face flushed, and her lips had parted slightly. Instinct took over and he closed his eyes as he leaned in, taking a step closer to steady himself and....

*snap*

"Ahhh! Damn, the parsnip!"

The moment past, he'd refocused on the empty house. Surely William would have heard them out her by now?

Thoughts of vegetables pushed to the side, he'd forded through the rest of the grass and bounded up the porch, into the small house where William B. Baxter lived. The tiny dwelling was exactly as he remembered it. An earthen fireplace and cooking area in the corner, a few pots and pans scattered about, cutlery hanging on the walls. A wooden table with two chairs, set for a meal. And on his left...

Two single beds. This time, though, there had been no woman lying there. No Martha, with her strange slight smile on an otherwise expressionless face, vacant eyes seemingly locked on a compac drive clutched in her hands. Nor was there any sign of her husband, a man with unkempt blond locks and a cheerful smile, having a one sided conversation as he spooned a meal into unreceptive lips. The house was small, yes, but the emptiness of it had seemed huge.

Eureka had watched him take the details in, her eyes questioning. Of all the travels he'd made after leaving the Gekko-Go, this was one place he'd never told her about. He'd missed her most of all, here. William-san had been a devoted husband and caregiver, steadfastly holding to the belief that his wife would one day awaken from the Despair, keeping her alive and nourishing her in the meantime, much the same as he tended and cared for the vegetables growing outside. At first he had felt sorry for the man, seeing him even as indulging in a slightly pathetic illusion...

He knew better now. There were certain ties between two people that made no sense unless you were one of the bound. William and Martha. Norbu and Sakura.

_Eureka...and me?_

It had not taken long for him to realise that William and Martha were not in the immediate area. Eureka had wanted to stop, to take a moment's pause, but he cajoled and wheedled her into heading back out into the mist.

How long had they been out here, now? He hadn't bothered to check when they had started, he realised, so his watch wasn't of much help. He figured a couple of hours, at least. There was no sign of anything much in the mist - pile bunkers, trees, and the remains of William's village. The earth had shifted, crunching and churning the small collection of houses into an eerie ruin.

"WILLLLLIAAAAAAAAAAAAM-SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!"

Silence.

He put his hands on his knees and bent over, suddenly tired. The mist and the strange mixed forest had grown cold and forbidding, and he felt drained. What had happened to William? To Martha?

"Renton." A warm hand was on his shoulder, and he turned to look back up at Eureka. She wore a sad expression.

"I don't know where your friend Baxter-san is, Renton. I....." she paused and took a breath, seemingly unsure of what to say. "I think we should go back to the house and take a break. Please?"

He couldn't argue with those eyes beseeching him. Shame bubbled up in him - he'd dragged her around in the fog for hours without rest. They probably both needed a break. The events of the last day - the last few days, weeks - they'd been caught up. There had been no chance to rest or pause as their lives and world lurched from one crisis to the next.

Not saying anything, but hoping his eyes and his smile were enough to convey his unspoken apology, he took her hand and led her back through the mist toward the house.

* * *

"...and so William bounced through the grass there like it was full of traps! He looked like a sort of weird magician, with his staff. It looked a bit like a small pile bunker. I saw him tap one over there," he gestured with a wave to the forest of metallic poles in the distance, "and then BAM! They just started falling over!"

They sat together on the porch in the fading light, watching the sun on its lazy journey toward the horizon, as Renton regaled Eureka with his memories of William Baxter. She had been content to listen to him, as she often did, with a gentle smile and patient interest. It occurred to him that he'd probably told her some of this before, in the calm after the storm of Ray and Charles Beams. She had yet to interrupt, however, so he continued to rattle off his memories as if Maurice, Maeter and Link were his rapt audience.

He was glad for the ability to just talk - it helped take his mind off things. There was a shadow behind Eureka's eyes, something distant and troubling. Every so often he would glance at her and pause his tale, the question 'what's wrong?' on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't quite bring himself to ask.

She would come to him if there was something on her mind, wouldn't she?

Wait, maybe she was unhappy and HE had done something. _Like in those magazines Matthieu and Doggie gave me! _He felt a flush creep up his neck at some of the...other...contents of those magazines, but hadn't there been stuff on a woman's mood? _Dammit, why can't I remember more of those 'how to be a good boyfriend' articles?_

THAT suddenly derailed his train of thought. _Boyfriend....I guess that's what I am, huh? I mean, I think I am. Aren't I? She said she loves me, and she's kissed me, and I guess we sorta saved the planet together. And we've got kids! Even if we haven't done.....that!_

_Yes, _another part of his mind chirped up, _but aren't you just assuming these things? Didn't Doggie tell you that girls like to be asked about this sort of thing? Maybe THAT is why she's distant! You need to ask her out, like, properly!_

_Yes, _the main portion of his mind agreed, _we'll go for it! She won't say no._

_Right? Dammit, I wish Doggie was around! He's all smooth and stuff with Gidget!_

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, preparing to launch forth with all the - limited - eloqence he could muster, but before he could even open his mouth he felt the soft weight of Eureka's body against his side, and her head settling into the crook of his neck. Her hand slid under his, fingers interlocking with hers almost of their own accord. Whatever speech had been in his brain evaporated in the face of the warmth and comfort he felt with her there. It dawned on him, slowly, that whatever was troubling her, something as mundane as a label wasn't it. Eureka had never been like that.

This, however, had meaning and substance. He was here with the girl he loved, who cared about him enough to sit like this with him, listening to him ramble.

They sat like that for a while, till the sun's disc was merely a sliver of light in the distance. Renton felt languid, unwilling to move, content simply to sit there and savour the sensation of her body so close. It felt...right.

"Renton?"

A lazy "Mmmm?" was the only response he could manage.

"You said Baxter-san had a wife here."

He remembered a pretty woman with brown hair, breathing so slowly he had wondered if she was even alive. Martha, who just sat there clutching at a compac drive while her devoted husband tried to keep her alive and himself sane.

"Yeah. Martha. He had found her during a battle, I think. He brought her here to get away from it all, to show her where he was born and grew up. He was a soldier....but I think he just wanted to escape from it all, to find somewhere where they could both have a bit of peace."

Eureka was silent for a while, as if in thought. When she spoke again it was barely a whisper against his neck.

"Martha-san used to have Despair, didn't she?"

Something in the way she said it set him on edge, and the previously warm feeling was gone. Had he mentioned that to her? He must have done, at some point.

"Yeah, she did. She got it just after they arrived, when William found his village destroyed by the coral."

"When you left...where did you go? Do you have an idea of where we are?"

He pondered that for a while. Gianas was the nearest close city, but that would've been several hours by ref board, across some fairly wild terrain. To get there from here...

His stomach suddenly felt like lead, the reality of it washing over him: they were probably several days walk from the nearest city, with no way of contacting anybody: not to mention no guarantee that anyone would have the slightest clue where to start looking.

Eureka, though, sensed the change in his mood and placed a hand on his cheek, gently bringing his gaze to meet hers. "It'll be alright. We can stay here. There's food growing there, and we have shelter and water. We can just stay here, for a while. I....I don't think Baxter-san will return soon, anyway."

She leaned forward, her forehead resting against his, and he wrapped his arms around her. A while? He could stay like here, like this, for all time. Her last comment about William not coming back didn't seem to matter, suddenly. Not when she was this close and he could feel the warmth of her breath. Taking the initiative this time, she leaned up and kissed him, and then nothing more needed to be said that evening.

* * *

The man with the mop of black hair marched with steely determination down the corridor. Passers-by would have probably noticed that he was young, especially for someone wearing the rank insignia of a Lieutenant Colonel, and that he carried two bulging briefcases.

They would definitely have noticed the way he suddenly stopped, took a close look at his surroundings, and then did an abrupt about turn and marched back toward the nearest wall-map, some thirty metres back. Upon reaching it he placed one case on the ground, pulled out a small sheet of paper, and then spent the next few minutes peering back and forth at the two guides. This not getting him anywhere, he scoured the hallway until he found a hapless-looking guard.

"Corporal!" The guard snapped to attention and eyed the man warily as he approached.

"Yes, sir?"

"Ah, at ease. I need your help with something. I need to get to section 6-B - how much farther down the hallway is it?"

The guard went a bit pale. "6B, sir?"

"That's right. My new office is there. Says so right here on this order and building guide."

The guard studied this for a few moments, silently cursing his luck. The last time he'd pointed out something like this to an officer he'd had his leave cancelled.

"uh, begging your pardon, sir, but you're in 3G at the moment."

"3G?"

The guard gently pried the plastic map transparency and rotated it 90 degrees, before flipping it over. "Here, sir. Goes this way around. And on this side. You need to head up three levels, then take the third corridor here."

"Ah. I see. Thank you, corporal. Dimissed." At this, the Corporal fired off the best salute he could manage and beat a very hasty retreat.

Newly-promoted Lieutenant Colonel Dominic Sorel stuffed the map back into his pocket and resumed his wanderings. This was a stupid building, anyway. And why did the wall-maps need so many colours?

* * *

An hour later he staggered into the hallway bearing the 6B sign, the two suitcases in his arms feeling like cinderblocks. Damn the general! This sort of thing was perfectly consistent with Jurgens warped sense of humour. He realised, belatedly, that if he'd bothered to inspect it closely it was even the old man's damn handwriting on the map directions. He recalled the events of two nights previous.

_They were an odd couple, the two of them: a grizzled old ship's captain and a naive young intelligence officer, both destined to serve out bland and thoroughly unmemorable careers, until destiny had tapped them both on the shoulder and told them she had other plans for them. They'd spent the last five months in each other's company, and dealing day-in day-out with the squabbling princelings of the tower states had forged a deep bond between them. The achievement of their goal after so many months of negotiation, bargaining, offer, counter-offer....it was all concluded, at last, and that meant one thing: time to get absolutely hammered._

_Which was how they found themselves in yet another bar (the third for that night, by Dominic's count), slamming back funny little glasses with syrupy stuff in them that seemed to burn terribly on the way down._

"Tch, will you stop laughing? I don't really find that funny." Jurgens stared morosely into his shotglass while his subordinate continued to giggle like a schoolgirl.

"heheheheheh...." Dominic wheezed. "sorry....uh, hehehe, General." Dominic tried and failed to sound respectful. "General, SIR. Hehehehehehehe. General Jurgens, Surpeme Commander of the...hic!... 'Defence Force of the Commonwealth of Tower Republics'."

The giggles continued.

"Hehe...I just loved the looks on those old goats faces when you got up there to accept the appointment. You realise that they're probably not going to print what you said in the history books, sir. I mean, "there aren't going to be any more of these 'secret planet-destroying plan' bullshit episodes on my watch" isn't what ...hic... they're going to want kids to read at school..."

Dominic was swaying a little bit on his stool, the effort of remembering the quote clearly straining his ability to remain upright. Jurgens just looked into his glass again and chuckled. History? Yes, history would remember the formation of the first unified state on the planet since their ancestors had left, so many generations ago. History would probably be written about how noble the founders of it were, to put aside their differences after Dewey's coup, all that sort of crap.

Jurgens scoffed at that. He'd basically forced their hand, pointed out that the vast majority of the military forces still remaining on the planet listened to him, and were the only thing keeping the tower states from being swallowed in anarchy. Not to mention that the military was the one coordinating relief operations and rebuilding in the wake of planetwide devastation. The little laughing monkey on the stool - who at that moment was eyeing up another shot with exaggerated suspicion - had been his unofficial aide and partner-in-crime, always able to conjure up some sort of relevant statistic about the numbers of people rendered homeless by asteroid strikes or the monetary resources of each state, and what would be required for funding this and that and the next thing...

Oh yes, he and the monkey weren't done yet. If the history books were going to write paeans to General Juergens, he'd make sure credit was given where credit was due.

Dominic had somehow managed to get to his feet and had ambled right up to the old man, wrapping his arm around him with inebriated familiarity. "I have to say, Cap- uhhh, General, that it has been good working with you. All joking aside."

"I'm going to miss ...hic... it, actually." Jurgens could see through the drunken solemnity that the kid wasn't just trying to be polite, either. They'd seen a lot together. You don't share the credit for the dawning of a new era everyday, after all.

He flashed a wolf-like grin at the young man, who developed a bit of nervous sobriety, and fished around in his pocket for some papers. He hadn't actually MEANT to do this here, but why the hell not?

"Ah, well, Lieutenant, it just so happens that apparently this fancy big job I just got means I get to have all sorts of fresh-faced underlings running around doing my bidding, and I need a person who can organise them. A chief of staff for my headquarters personnel. Someone I can trust and rely on."

Dominic's eyes had taken on the look of the hunted. Jurgens adopted a conversational tone and ploughed on.

"I had a conversation with a young lady about it - pink hair, named after a flower. You've probably met. Anyway, your name came up, strangely enough. We agreed it was an excellent choice. I wanted to promote you to Major, but she said there was a Central apartment she had her eye on and a Major's salary was a touch low. Hard bargainer you've got there, kid." Jurgens reached into his pocket and fished out a small plastic packet. "So we agreed on Lieutenant Colonel."

The young man's eyes went wide and he started to open and close his mouth like a guppy. "Ahh...you can do that? Sir?"

Jurgens laughed and grinned, and Dominic was reminded momentarily of a shark. "I'm finding new things I'm allowed to do every day, Mister Sorel. Apparently this positions means people listen to me." He grimaced for a moment. "Well, they listen to what Lieutenant Schneider will let me tell them. She must like you, too, since she agreed with your fiancee."

Feeling drearily sober all of a sudden, Dominic adopted a resigned pose and wearily took the piece of paper and the packet containing a fresh set of rank bars. Jurgens' mood, on the other hand, had perked up considerably, and he patted the young man on the shoulder. "Well kid, I'm feeling all cheerful for some reason! You head home, I promised your wife I'd have you back reasonably early. I'll see you bright and early on Monday morning."

_And with that, he'd waved goodbye and left the sullen young man alone to drunkenly absorb what had just happened._

* * *

Roughly one hour, three wrong turns and ten flights of stairs later Dominic found himself hunched forward over his new desk. Right now his office was a cold, empty place - far larger than the sort of area he'd had to himself as a very junior intelligence officer. He was used to working in a variety of conditions, be they tiny offices in some faceless facility or in small crew quarters at several thousand metres altitude. It seemed a little strange to be unsettled so by a large, clean, well-lit office.

He even had a window! A large one at that, which gave him an excellent view of one of the park spaces that dotted the grounds of headquarters. The tranquility, the normality of watching people siting in a park, eating their lunches and talking with co-workers seemed so far away from the work he was doing. He sighed, rubbing his eyes, and turned back to the documents he'd been reviewing.

The Captain - _no, _he thought, _that's 'the general' now - _had a meeting with a noble of some sort who were nominally in charge of Jackson state, and he'd left Dominic with a pile of reports and reconnaissance images for the tower states in the area. There had been a small note in Jurgens handwriting attached to the documents, and he allowed himself a smirk in the privacy of his office.

'_Dominic - I've got to go listen to some overfed moron rant about why we're not rebuilding his villa, or something. And before you panic, don't worry, this won't be like the time with 'Lord' Wrightson. Lt. Schneider gives me too much crap when I punch people. I need you to review these files though, because it looks like we've got a major refugee problem here.'_

That was Jurgens to a tea these days: couldn't care less about politics or offending the upper crust, but mention refugees and suddenly there would be time and resources. Dominic knew the man well enough now to understand the unspoken steel behind this - he may not have been able to do anything to help Warsaw, but he'd be damned if he let other people endure that without someone there to help. Reviewing the files left for him, Dominic found himself in quick agreement with his boss's instincts.

The Jackson area had been hit hard by the debris strikes. Worst hit was the tower at Gianas, with the entire structure - and much of the city - having been wiped out. The analyst who had put together the file had included the most recent pre-calamity imagery, and the comparison between 'before' and 'after' was grim. The analyst had scrawled in the margins that upwards of 60% of the city's population was wiped out, which left over thirty thousand people in need of shelter and food. He'd need to make Jurgens aware of the numbers, and soon.

As he moved to tidy away the photos something caught his eye - a small area on the 'before' imagery which looked from altitude like a farm, stuck in the middle of a formation of pile bunkers and dense trees. _An abandoned town, maybe? No real signs of settlement. _On the 'after' image, however, it had been completed wiped out. A direct hit from debris, nothing more than a blackened crater now. It struck him as slightly strange - most of the Coralian strikes had been directed at population centres; it had not been a random bombardment.

_No point dwelling on this, though. I need to start organising thirty-thousand tents. _He gave the anomaly no more thought and fished around in his drawer for some requisition forms.

*

A/N: Whew, sorry about the wait, those who are nice enough to be keeping tabs on this fic. Work and illness have been conspiring against me. I've tried to make this chapter a little bit longer to make up for the wait, although I had to stop the Dominic segment from running away with the entire chapter.

Reviews, constructive criticism, thoughts always welcome.


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